A Story of Recovery for National Drug Court Month

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One of Pioneer’s Spokane employment specialist’s, Joseph Parham, recently shared a client’s success story. “I live for stories like this one because they remind me that there is always hope especially when someone is really struggling with addiction and falls into a criminal behavior to support their drug habit. Kim’s story is proof that an individual can triumph over their past, get clean and give back. We can all celebrate because her success is also our success.”

Kim comes from a big family in Spokane, WA. She has ten brothers and sisters, but the family was broken up when her parents divorced and she only grew up with two of her siblings. Kim attended Rogers High School, and while she was there, she started to be influenced by other teens who were smoking pot and drinking. The drinking made her feel more at ease and accepted by others when socializing so it got out of control quickly. After her graduation, she landed three DUI’s in succession and her addiction to alcohol sent her in a downward spiral of drugs.

Kim stated, “I soon started to use harder drugs like cocaine and then I fell into writing bad checks to support my habit.” During this time Kim also had two children. “You would of thought that I would of straightened out, but no, addiction had its claws in me; instead it got worse and I went to jail for writing bad checks.”

After a series of drug treatment programs, getting clean and relapsing again Kim wound up pregnant with her third child and went into a special program for pregnant women at the Isabella House in Spokane to try to gain control of her life and stay clean. Kim said “I was doing so good! I was attending AA meetings, going to church; life was looking up. Then SID’s took my son at 4 ½ months old. I was beyond devastated. After I lost him, I really sank fast. The only thing that kept me alive was knowing I had my other kids!” Read More